


A World of Monsters

by DeafBubblegum



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Monster - Freeform, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28597467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeafBubblegum/pseuds/DeafBubblegum
Summary: A child tells the monster under the bed a story.
Kudos: 2





	A World of Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't properly written in a few years so I'm making myself write short things to get myself back into the swing of things. Please be kind! And ideas are welcome.

There is a clock ticking.  
It’s rhythmic, steady. Like a heartbeat of something not quite human. And there is no clock in the room.

But the child on the bed is not afraid, even though the room is dark and the wall shows the curled shadows of the trees that rest outside the window. The child is not afraid even as their mind conjures monsters watching in the shadows, hungry. The child is not afraid even as the wind howls. Those are monsters of the mind. Real monsters are different.

The pitch black of under the bed gets darker. And the ticking of the clock gets louder. Shadows spill out from the dark, climbing up the legs of the bed, and sliding underneath the sheets. Cold tendrils wrap around the child's legs. And they giggle.

“You’re just on time,” the child says, their eyes not looking at the shadows. “You really want to hear the end of this story, don’t you?” A pause. No response. The tendrils resting on their legs.

“Okay! Last we left off, grandma looked a little strange. So little red riding hood comments on them. ‘What large ears you have’ little red says. ‘All the better to hear you with’ the grandma says. ‘What large eyes you have’ little red says. ‘All the better to see you with’ the grandma says. ‘What large teeth you have’ little red says.”

The tendrils vibrate in excitement and they climb higher, wrapping around the wrist of the child. They pat the cold limbs absentmindedly.

“‘All the better to EAT you with’ says the wolf as he lunges forwards, claws out as he grips hold of little red, cutting through the riding hood that she is known for. He opens his mouth wide and swallows her in one big GULP.” The child giggles as the creature from under the bed tightens, “Don’t worry! It has a real good ending” they say, reassuringly.

“Just then, the woodsman barges into the door and sees the wolf, plump and sleepy, and he brings down the ax before the wolf can move. Off comes his head, rolling on the floor, and the body slumps to the ground. Then the woodsman cuts down the body and everything spills out. Blood and guts, like the lungs and heart and in-test-teens all fall onto the ground. And out pops the little red riding hood and grandma, all alive but very bloody and scared. The woodsman took them both to the hospital and then the police were called. The wolf got taken away and burned and everybody else got therapy. The end.”

The child closes their eyes as they sink into their bed and the monster slowly went back into the shadow it calls home. And the ticking stops.

Maybe tomorrow there will be another story.


End file.
